Age Discrimination and Mandatory Retirement

The mandatory retirement age controversy should be re-examined and redefined further. Baby boomers are very different from their predecessors; they are living longer, maintain lifestyles that are more active and are generally better able to continue working than in the past. The real challenge is the reality of how the insufficient number of young people will fill the vacancies left by the aging workforce.

Mandatory retirement may be unavoidable, as older workers are forced from the work field to create more vacancies for new younger employees. According to most seniors, it is an unfair practice and does not take into account if the person wants to retire; it also does not take into account the mental and physical capabilities or financial position of the person. Not a popular subject by most studies, often it has some effect on many elderly baby boomers plans on how they retire. Since it involves less than 1 percent of the working population, retirement only opens a small fraction of the total jobs and affects a tiny portion of the population. There is no need to force retirement to create vacancies; most workers retire voluntarily, and still do so even though mandatory retirement is outlawed in most of the United States.

Critics for mandatory retirement of pilots at age 60, worry that safety may be compromised, since pilots in their 60’s may find it tougher to battle fatigue or rebound from jet lag than younger colleagues. The Air Line Pilots Association, (ALPA) and the Allied Pilots Association, (APA) has long been supportive of the “age 60 rule”. However, the Pilot Medical Solutions position has always believed the mandatory retirement of pilots was a political issue rather than one of safety or medicine. In 2007, President George W. Bush raised the controversial pilot retirement age to 65, yielding to the majority of pilots and aerospace engineers who believed the old 1950 rule was an arbitrary number chosen without substantial evidence correlating age to safety.Pilots agree that the new law now reflects the reality that today’s 60 year olds are physically fit enough to continue flying, and their experience should not be taken out of the cockpit.

Mandatory retirement is a form of age discrimination that serves as the foundation of a form of prejudice and discrimination of older adults called ageism, a term first coined by Robert Butler (1969), chairperson of a congressional committee on aging in 1968. During an earlier era, the same discriminatory argument was directed at women workers, which suggested married women, should stay out of the workforce and preserve jobs for men. This is no different from the contemporary argument that older workers should retire and make room for younger workers. Critics have observed, “Mandatory retirement is a polite phrase for employment discrimination – or for being fired because of age” (Gillen and Klassen, 2000, p.61).

Nearly two thirds of business executives and over 80 percent of adults were opposed to setting a mandatory retirement age. Denying employment based on age alone is not acceptable and it is contrary to equal employment opportunity and discriminatory laws. It seems odd that so many adults are opposed to mandatory retirement and yet it is still enforced in many workplaces.

The 65 and older population is projected to increase from 12 percent in 2000 to 20 percent in 2030. In 1950, there was one elderly person to every seven workers. In the year 2000, the ratio was one in five and projected to increase to one in three in 2050. With the impending retirement of the baby boom generation, employers face the loss of many experienced workers and quite possibly skill gaps in certain occupations. This could have an adverse effect on productivity and economic growth. Furthermore, the expected increased ratio of the elderly to those of working ages will place added stress on...

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...Discrimination against older worker occurs so often that Congress made an act to protect older workers from discrimination; this helps prevent increased unemployment for those older than 40 years of age. In 1967, congress made the AgeDiscrimination in Employment Act for the purpose of promoting the employment of older workers based on their ability instead of their age. This act applies to employment by public and private employers and by the unions and employment agencies, as well as foreign companies that have more than 20 workers located here in the United States. In 1967 the act covered employees between the ages of 40 and 65, the upper limit was extended 70 in 1978 and then the limit was removed completely later on. Now there is no longer an upper age limit, a 79 year old may be just as qualified as a 30 year old and should have the opportunity to prove her or his qualifications and obtain employment base on them. Another issue with this act is mandatoryretirement; for the most part this has become a thing of the past. It should also be mentioned that people are living longer lives today and this act will become more and more critical for the working employees in this country.
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...MandatoryRetirement:
Why governments should quit banning it
Morley Gunderson
CIBC Chair in Youth Employment – University of Toronto
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
16 December 2008
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Government did not create mandatoryretirement. It is not legislated. Not even the CPP requires
people to stop working at age 65.
Mandatoryretirement was created through bargaining between employees and employers because it
is mutually beneficial. It allows employees to achieve job security and income predictability, and to
engage in tax deferral and career planning while giving the employer cost predictability, succession
planning and access to committed employees.
Banning mandatoryretirement now will hurt new entrants into the workforce (lower income
potential, fewer promotion opportunities). It will also penalize employers by stripping them of the
benefits of mandatoryretirement agreements after they have already paid out the costs, and it will
allow many older workers continue to receive premium pay relative to productivity.
Mandatoryretirement policies will adjust to the new demographic reality without government’s
assistance (55% of companies with current mandatoryretirement schemes already plan on...

...The Ending of MandatoryRetirement in Ontario
As of December 12, 2006 Ontario residents can decide for themselves whether they want to continue working past the age of 65 or whether they want to terminate their employment and start to enjoy their retirement. In Ontario, a new law, Bill 211 came into effect “Ending of MandatoryRetirement Statue Law Amendment Act of 2005.” The bill was given Royal Assent on December 12, 2005 however in order to allow employers time to make the necessary provisions and adjustments it did not come into effect until one year later.1 This law amends the Ontario Human Rights Code as well as a number of other statutes that prohibit mandatoryretirement at age 65, except in cases where it could be justified as a “bona fide occupational requirement” determined under the code. A bona fide occupational requirement compels the employer to show that they cannot accommodate the employee without undue hardship, taking into consideration such factors as cost, health and safety issues. A bona fide occupational requirement is allowed under the Ontario Human Rights Code because of the nature of the employment. They must also establish that the requirement was adopted in good faith and that the requirement is necessary and rationally connected to the performance of the job.
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...﻿The
Introduction:
Agediscrimination in the workplace is more prevalent than many would care to believe. Older workers tend to be more expensive and take more time off from work, with this in mind it is not surprising that agediscrimination has become one of the most common forms of discrimination in employment. While this form of discrimination is technically prohibited by statute, it is also by far the most difficult to enforce. Agediscrimination differs from most discrimination laws in the fact that it must be proven that age was the dominant factor as opposed to simply being a factor. In this paper I will analyze the AgeDiscrimination in Employment Act of 1967 by exploring its history, and analyzing four unique cases filed under the ADEA.1 These cases will consist of one general agediscrimination case, one that shows the difference between state and federal enforcement, a supreme court case that discusses state sovereignty, and finally a case from which the prima facie test that most agediscrimination cases use in transferring the burden of proof. Finally I will conclude with opinions on the effectiveness of the law.
The AgeDiscrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) was put in place to...

...AgeDiscrimination In Employment Act
Table Contents
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...Agediscrimination at the workplace
Believe it, or not, job seekers are reporting age discriminationbeginning as early as the mid-thirties. By the time you reach your forties, you can be considered washed up in some industries. There are strategies you can use to help mitigate discrimination issues. There are also laws that prohibit employment discriminationbecause of age.
AgeDiscrimination Issues
In addition, to being considered "old," experienced candidates are some times considered more of an expense (higher salary, pension, benefits costs, etc.) than a younger applicant would be.
If you are middle-aged, or even younger, keep in mind that you are not alone:
* Workers over 45 are unemployed longer than younger workers.
* By 2018, the number of employees over 55 will reach 39 million, compared to 27 million in 2008.
* More older workers are considering postponing retirement because of the down economy.
* Research has found no relationship between age and job performance.
Employment Discrimination
Employment discrimination happens when a job seeker or an employee is treated unfavorably because of his or her race, skin color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, or age. Here's information on agediscrimination and other employment...